You may never have been to a modern African safari camp. But you may know what one looks like. Most are built on wooden platforms with the skeletal outline of a gabled roof. They generally have a white canvas ceiling and walls. In addition, there is mosquito netting and simple, wooden furniture. And, there are spacious views of wild landscapes. Just pull a curtain away from your bed.

Could this type of accommodation work in other wild places? A conservation organization and a local inn decided to find out. They are located in Portugal. The country is in Europe. There, the Faia Brava Wildlife Reserve has created Star Camp. It is an experiment in ecotourism. This represents a first for Europe.

"You have the landscape of Coa valley on the front of the tent," says Sara Nara to Smithsonian.com. She is the owner of Star Camp. "You can open up the tent to see it better. You have all the things of a proper bed and breakfast in the wild."

The Faia Brava reserve is part of a new series of experiments in Europe. These create wild places. They are based on a philosophy similar to that of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Yellowstone has reintroduced species like wolves and free-roaming bison in a bid to restore its ecosystem. Traditionally, European wildlife habitats in parks and preserves are intensively managed. But Rewilding Europe, a nonprofit conservation organization, thinks that should change. It has brought together a coalition of smaller nonprofits. They plan to steer Europe's wild places towards a hands-off approach. They focus on restoring the native species that can make ecosystems function on their own.

"In the past, it was always the theory of putting up a fence and managing the processes ourselves," says Simon Collier. He is Wildlife Tourism Manager at Rewilding Europe. He spoke to Smithsonian.com. "But rewilding is challenging that idea. These species can live harmoniously together. And you don't have to manage the land as intensively as we had thought."

Faia Brava was farmland 30 years ago. But globalization has forced farmers from all around Europe to compete with each other. The area has dry, rocky soil. That makes it difficult to produce many crops at competitive prices. Rewilding Europe is taking over large tracts of former farmland that isn't well suited to modern factory farming. Rewilding Europe wants to restore it to something resembling the landscape before Europe's agricultural revolution.

Waking up in Star Camp, visitors may open their tents to see a pristine landscape. The land is gradually bearing more of a resemblance to the Portugal of the past.

"No telephone lines or radio towers in the distance," says Collier. "Nice gentle, rolling hills. The sunrise in the morning is exactly the same. It provides you with a sense of adventure. And a feeling like you are in Africa."

The idea for Star Camp "came out of the ecotourism models in South Africa where there was a focus on ecotourism," says Collier. "Building just a guest house wouldn't have been good enough." In the project's early days, he says, the site was selected with careful attention to factors like its natural light, and acoustic atmosphere and sights.

Some of those sights now include animals. They are part of a de-extinction program. Though they've long been extinct, aurochs (pronounced like aur-ox) once occupied an ecological niche. It was similar to the bison in North America. And similar to the cape buffalo in Africa. To get Europe's ecosystems functioning again, The Tauros Project began recreating the aurochs. How? They selectively cross-bred primitive breeds of cattle. Tauros is now gradually working to breed back the aurochs. The large bovids grazing on Faia Brava are part of the project.

Visitors can also spot wild-ranging Garrano horses. They graze with the aurochs-in-progress. Garranos are a breed of domestic horse. They are indigenous to the region. Garranos are believed to include a high proportion of genes from wild ancestors. Those roamed Portugal thousands of years ago. Nearby rock paintings are over 2,500 years old. They show ancient horses. They look strikingly similar to the Garranos that graze the landscape.

But horses and bovids aren't Faia Brava's only draw. One of the reserve's most popular attractions is a blind. It has been constructed in front of a feeding area for Egyptian vultures, griffin vultures and black vultures. The carcasses of deceased donkeys, horses and other livestock are brought here. They attract the birds, many of which move between North Africa and Portugal. Birdwatchers and professional photographers have praised it as an unusual opportunity to see these scavengers up close.

Hiking trails offer other opportunities to take in the local sights.

Star Camp's current platform tents are set up to accommodate couples (perhaps with one small child). A larger, family-sized platform tent is expected to be ready for guests by July of 2017. Collier calls it "effectively sleeping under the stars with lots of creature comforts."

If things go according to plan, Faia Brava will one day become part of a network of wildlife reserves. They are being built throughout Europe. Numerous small reserves are being set aside as land becomes available. Safe corridors are planned. These eventually would connect the properties. Wildlife could safely migrate as needed. Much like Yellowstone in North America and the parks of South Africa and Namibia, ecologically sensitive tourism is a key component of Rewilding Europe's long-term plans.